


Art of death

by cloudnine



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 12:05:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6753154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudnine/pseuds/cloudnine





	Art of death

"I love drinking tea with you, Kagero!"

Kagero smiles, putting the cup in her hands on the wooden table. "I also enjoy these moments with you, Peri."

Peri giggles, curious wide open eyes gazing in awe across her room. "Your room is also so neat and clean!" She puts her own cup down, Kagero noticing how little she seemed to drink. She points to somewhere behind Kagero. "I've been curious for a while, what are these?"

Kagero turns to where she is pointing at and tries to stop Peri from walking over to the cabinet with papers spilling out but she was already striding towards it without remorse, as if the room was her own. 

"Oh, Peri don't touch that, it's-"

It was too late, the floor was already filled with scattered sheets of paper with black ink splayed across them. Peri's eyes were wide open, mouth open in a slight "O" of amazement or shock, Kagero couldn't tell.

After some moments of silence, Kagero's body tense and worried at her sudden quietness, Peri speaks.

"Did you make these?"

Kagero walks towards her and sits beside her, picking up some of the paper. "Yes, they are my works of art, if you could call them that."

As she extends her hand to pick a discarded one Peri's hand stops her, grabbing her wrist. Kagero ceases her movements, turning her head to her with worry. She had heard criticism of her work many times, it was nothing new to her. Few people understood or enjoyed what she drew, most people were perturbed and disturbed by the black unrecognizable figures on the blank paper.

She should have known Peri was never like most people.

"They're...beautiful." Kagero blinks, Peri's hand still holding onto her but her grip softening. Her tone seemed so calm and mature for Peri, Kagero couldn't deny she was slightly taken aback by it.

"Thank you...It's very rare that someone compliments my art." She merely responds, clutching onto the paper in her arms. Peri stops her, shaking her head.

"If you keep doing that you'll ruin the image..." Peri says, eyes narrowed in seriousness. Kagero stops and Peri's head turns upward, looking at her with a strange fixation in her eyes. "Those people don't know anything, then. I've never seen such a beautiful display of pain and sorrow in a piece of art."

Kagero furrows her eyebrows, not sure what she meant. Peri continues, a small smile forming across her face as she picks one of the sheets. "It's astoundingly beautiful, how you portray death in such a graceful manner. The hurting you must have gone through when you painted these, I wish...I could see you work."

Death. Is that what she saw in all of her drawings? Yes they were dark and brooding, and it was hard to distinguish what they meant or were but while Kagero did draw from her emotions sometimes, it's not as if she meant for them to portray something as horrible as death. She has been told her art looks demonic, almost as if it came from Hell but...

"This one's my favorite!" Peri lets go of Kagero and picks one up with both hands, showing it to Kagero. The ninja's eyes open, gazing at her own work with disconnect. She didn't even remember she painted that.

"I love how much blood is coming from the person's body, it fills the page with dread and leaves the onlooker speechless. Kagero, you have an amazing talent! I wish you would draw me when I'm killing enemies on the battlefield."

Her cheerful words, sweet and childish while saying such horrible things make Kagero shake, unsure on what to reply. Peri giggles while she continues speaking of her other works.

_A child getting killed! A warrior in battle! Blood over a person's hands!_

"Stop." 

Peri's mouth closes, staring at Kagero curiously, tilting her head to the side. How could such a childish, beautiful girl speak of such horrid things? Kagero was well aware of all she had to go though, of all the people she has killed but she never expected her work resembled that. She always thought she could escape her life as an assassin in her art, where she could draw what she wanted, how she felt like. Nature and the things she loved about this world, not the things that haunted her and she hated. Peri's "compliments" hurt her.

"I could never paint such a thing." Kagero says, eyes shut in pain. "Death is a horrible thing. To find them in my works, I-" She averts her gaze from Peri, whose smile disappeared. "I feel insulted you would think I would paint such dreadful scenes."

"But..." Peri's voice falters, as if she was about to cry. "What is this then? Is this not blood, a dead person? Someone getting killed?"

"No!" Kagero shouts, Peri jumping at her sudden scream. "Never! I could never portray such a thing in paper! I'm already haunted enough by these images in my sleep."

She stops, hearing the small sobs coming from Peri. The cavalier lets go of the papers in her hands, letting them fall to the floor. Her hands instantly go to her face, rubbing at her eyes as tears fall down her cheeks.

"But, but, I thought Kagero understood me...I thought Kagero saw the beauty in death like me."

Kagero's chest constricts, heart pounding in stress. Death was never beautiful, especially when it was caused by her own hands. She never understood why Peri was the way she was, why she was so obsessed and unperturbed by killing. 

She had thought they were different, but they weren't much far from each other. Both were close to death every second of their lives, both protected and guarded over a crown prince, both saw beauty in art, even with how different they both interpreted it.

But unlike Peri, Kagero found death to be horrible. 

Peri had said she enjoyed watching Kagero kill, and now she understood why. She must have imagined these paintings being done the same way as when she killed, when she slit a man's throat, or stuck a dagger in someone's abdomen. When the blood sprayed across her body and Peri watched her with adoration. She wished Peri loved her for her other attributes, not what she hated the most about herself. That she was a murderer.

What she saw in her paintings was the same thing she saw when she watched Kagero battle.

_-it was like watching art being made. Art of death!_

Hands encircle over Peri's shaking body, a hand rubbing soothing circles over her back. The other hand went to clean the dark tears over her makeup smeared face. 

There was nothing to say, nothing she could say. Peri was like a child, and Kagero felt the need to protect her. She wanted to know and help Peri, wanted to learn why she was so strangely fascinated by death. She must have gone through a whole lot, she was like her...only she seemed to love killing while Kagero was haunted by it. No one was like this for no reason, though. Kagero wanted to know why. She felt they could somehow balance each other, Peri admired her insecurities of killing, and Kagero wanted to care for her disturbed, innocent nature. 

She was the death Peri loved so much, she brought it with her, in everything she touched. Her delicate fingers painted it with the blood from her enemies, of the people she has killed. How she wished she could see Kagero paint her with blood, her own blood mixing with hers in complete peace and bliss. 

Kagero holds onto her, the girl in her arms still and limp, different from her usual bright nature. Different from how alive she always seemed.

A beautiful scene, one that Kagero wishes to draw someday. Of Peri's still body, eyes half-lidded, tears across her pale face, colorful hair disheveled across her head.

A serenity she would never find in the girl while she lived.

Maybe death could be beautiful after all. 


End file.
